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Jarl
Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territory in a king's stead. It could also denote a sovereign prince. For example, during the Viking age, the rulers of several of the petty kingdoms of Norway held the title of ''jarl'', often wielding no less power than their neighboring kings. In later medieval Sweden and Norway, there was typically only one jarl in the kingdom, second in authority only to the king. The title became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced by the rank of duke (''hertig''/''hertug''/''hertog''). The word is etymologically related to the English ''earl''. Etymology The term ''jarl'' (, Old Swedish: ''iarl'', ''iærl'', Old Danish: ''jærl'') has been connected to various similar words across Germanic languages, such as Proto-Norse ''eril,'' Old English ''eorl'' (meaning warr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rígsþula
''Rígsþula'' or ''Rígsmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Ríg') is an Eddic poem, preserved in the Codex Wormianus (AM 242 fol), in which a Norse god named Ríg or Rígr, described as "old and wise, mighty and strong", fathers the social classes of mankind. The prose introduction states that Rígr is another name for Heimdall, who is also called the father of mankind in '' Völuspá''. However, there seems to be some confusion of Heimdall and Odinn, see below. In ''Rígsþula'', Rig wanders through the world and fathers the progenitors of the three classes of human beings as conceived by the poet. The youngest of these sons, Jarl ('earl, nobleman'), inherits the name or title "Ríg" and so in turn does his youngest son, Kon the Young or ''Kon ungr'' (, king). This third Ríg was the first true king and the ultimate founder of the state of royalty as appears in the ''Rígsþula'' and in two other associated works. In all three sources he is connected with two primordial Danish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Age
The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their homeland of Scandinavia but also to any place significantly settled by North Germanic peoples, Scandinavians during the period. Although few of the Scandinavians of the Viking Age were Vikings in the sense of being engaged in piracy, they are often referred to as ''Vikings'' as well as ''Norsemen''. Voyaging by sea from their homelands in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the Norse people settled in the Viking activity in the British Isles, British Isles, History of Ireland (800–1169), Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Settlement of Iceland, Iceland, Norse settlements in Greenland, Greenland, History of Normandy, Normandy, and the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and along the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, Dnieper and Volga trade rout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hersir
A hersir was a local Viking military commander of a ''hundred'' (a county subdivision), of about 100 men, and owed allegiance to a jarl or king. They were also aspiring landowners, and, like the middle class in many feudal societies, supported the kings in their centralization of power. Originally, the term Hersir referred to a wealthy farmer who owned land and had the status of a leader. Throughout the Viking Age, Hersir was eventually redefined as someone who organized and led raids. In the 10th century, the influence of Hersirs began to decrease due to the development of effective national monarchies in Scandinavia. Hersir was again redefined later on to mean a local leader or representative. The independence of the Hersir as a military leader eventually vanished, to be replaced only by the title of a royal representative. The "Hávamál", which was the mythical advice of the supreme creator Odin">he H ...", which was the mythical advice of the supreme creator Odin to humankind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmark-Norway. After over two centuries of separation, in 2018 they were reunited following a referendum held two years earlier. The largest city in Trøndelag is the city of Trondheim. The administrative centre is Steinkjer, while Trondheim functions as the office of the county mayor. Both cities serve the office of the county governor; however, Steinkjer houses the main functions. Trøndelag county and the neighbouring Møre og Romsdal county together form what is known as Central Norway. A person from Trøndelag is called a ''trønder''. The dialect spoken in the area, trøndersk, is characterized by dropping out most vowel endings; see apocope. Trøndelag is one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first Monarchy of Norway, King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald to become kings after his death. Much of Harald's biography is uncertain. A couple of praise poems by his court poet Þorbjörn Hornklofi survive in fragments, but the extant accounts of his life come from sagas set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime. His life is described in several of the Kings' sagas, none of them older than the twelfth century. Their accounts of Harald and his life differ on many points, but it is clear that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Harald was regarded as having unified Norway into one kingdom. Since the nineteenth century, when Union between Sweden and Norway, Norway was in a personal union with Sweden, Harald has b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petty Kingdoms Of Norway
The petty kingdoms of Norway () were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death, Norway was divided in several small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, and others comprised several of today's counties. By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time. It has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking Age. Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country. There are no written sources from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, the kings' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jarls Of Lade
The Earls of Lade () were a dynasty of Norse '' jarls'' from Lade (Old Norse: ''Hlaðir''), who ruled what is now Trøndelag and Hålogaland from the 9th century to the 11th century. The seat of the Earls of Lade was at Lade Gaard, now located in the eastern parts of the city of Trondheim. The site is near the seaside of the Trondheimsfjord, which was an important waterway in the Viking Age. According to Snorri, King Harald I of Norway was a great commander but lacked a fleet. For that he was assisted by Håkon Grjotgardsson. In gratitude Harald made him the first earl of Lade. Notable Earls of Lade * Hákon Grjótgarðsson (c. 860–870 – c. 900–920), an ally and father-in-law of Harald Fairhair * Sigurðr Hákonarson (died 962), friend and advisor of Hákon the Good * Hákon Sigurðarson (c. 937–995), ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995 * Eiríkr Hákonarson (960s – 1020s), governor of the majority of Norway under Svein Forkbeard * Sveinn Hákonarson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord in Troms county. Etymology and history Ancient Norwegians said that was named after a royal named Hǫlgi. The Norse form of the name was '. The first element of the word is the genitive plural of ', a 'person from Hålogaland'. The last element is ', as in 'land' or 'region'. The meaning of the demonym ' is unknown. Thorstein Vikingson's Saga, 1, describes it as a compound of Hial, "Hel" or "spirit," and "loge", "fire" – although this is largely discredited. The Gothic historian Jordanes in his work ' (also known as ''Getica''), written in Constantinople , mentions a people "Adogit" living in the far North. This could be an old form of ' and a possible reference to the petty kingdom of Hålogaland. Alex Woolf links the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Järsberg Runestone
The Järsberg Runestone is a runestone in the elder futhark near Kristinehamn in Värmland, Sweden. Inscription It contains the following runic text: The name ''Hrabnaz'' or Hrafn translates as Raven.Looijenga (2003:331). Interpretation The Järsberg Runestone is a stone of reddish granite that is believed to have been part of a stone circle monument. The upper part of the runestone is damaged; this was the case when the stone was found. It is thus impossible to say how much of the runic text has been lost. It is safe to assume that the right row is to be completed with an ''e'', but the left row is more problematic. If the name is preserved, it was likely the man's name ''Ubaz'' (owl), but many assume that the name was ''Leubaz'' (pleasant), which is a name element known from another migration age runestone in Skärkind, Östergötland, that is designated as Ög 171. Moreover, the remainder of this row of runic text has not been positively interpreted either. There are dive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below grand dukes and above or below princes, depending on the country or specific title. The title comes from French ''duc'', itself from the Latin language, Latin ''dux'', 'leader', a term used in Roman Republic, republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word ''duchess'' is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of the Roman provinces), a ''dux'' became the military commander in each province. The title ''dux'', Hellenised to ''do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germanic Languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, English language, English, is also the world's most List of languages by total number of speakers, widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. All Germanic languages are derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic, spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia, History of Germany#Iron Age, Iron Age Northern Germany and along the North Sea and Baltic coasts. The West Germanic languages include the three most widely spoken Germanic languages: English language, English with around 360–400 million native speakers; German language, German, with over 100 million native speakers; and Dutch language, Dutch, with 24 million native speakers. Other West Germanic languages include Afrikaans, an offshoot of Dutch origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Háleygjatal
Háleygjatal is a skaldic poem by Eyvindr Skáldaspillir written towards the end of the 10th century to establish the Hlaðir dynasty as the social equals of the Hárfagri dynasty The poem is only partially preserved in disjoint parts quoted in ''Skáldskaparmál'', ''Heimskringla'' and two other manuscripts of kings' sagas. It appears to be a lesser imitation of ''Ynglingatal''. Just like ''Ynglingatal'' it contains 27 generations (3 x 3 x 3), and some expressions appear to be borrowed from ''Ynglingatal''. Moreover, it is composed in the same meter, '' kviðuháttr'', and the theme seems to be to trace the lineage of the poet's patron to the gods. A part of the poem quoted in ''Ynglinga saga'' mentions Odin and Skaði In Norse mythology, Skaði (; Old Norse: ; sometimes anglicized as Skadi, Skade, or Skathi) is a jötunn and Æsir, goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. Skaði is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 1 .... Refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
